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The old adage in sports is that "anything can happen," and it certainly did during the IndyCar race last week.

The practice session in Detroit was paused briefly Friday after a mother duck started escorting her babies across the Belle Isle track while the cars were whizzing by at high rates of speed.

Fortunately for mama duck and her five little ducklings, they all made it to safety after a worker helped them off the track.

This isn't the first time some furry friends have gotten a little too close to the action, though.

Here's a few more animal invasions:

Pigeon a special teams star

In a game between the Oakland Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles on October 18, 2009, a pigeon decided that it wanted to be on special teams for the Silver and Black. The bird lined up perfectly, and even flew down the field on cue when the ball was kicked off. Turns out the pigeon was the star of the game. Oakland ended up hanging on to win 13-9.

Dog drops a deuce in the outfield

An energetic dog escaped its owners hands on two separate occasions during a double-A baseball game. During the second escape, the canine decided to have a quick bathroom break in the outfield before being collared.

Seagull a golf ball thief

As if the 17th hole at the PGA Championship isn't hard enough, a seagull, thinking it had a great midday snack, swooped over golfer Steve Lowery's ball and snatched it from the island green. The bird flew away and then dropped it in the water. Lowery didn’t have to worry, though. He wasn’t given a penalty.

Don’t mean to bug you

St. Louis Cardinals star Matt Holliday could have used a little bug spray along with his baseball gear. The left fielder was forced to leave the game after a moth got lodged in his left ear. After a flashlight failed to lure it out, the trainers managed to finally extract the little critter with a pair of tweezers.

Marten has bite at soccer game

We know (because we looked it up) that the usual marten diet consists of squirrels, mice, rabbits, birds, fish, and insects. You can add humans to that list as well. During a Swiss soccer match, the furry creature crashed the pitch, running all over the place, before being snagged by Zurich defender Loris Benito. The player was bitten for his efforts and had to be removed from the game, likely for a rabies shot.